Finishing out the year with some good old fashioned press releases to get caught up. John de Gray played in Wednesday nights loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs. I’d be telling a lie if I said I watched a lot of the game and could give a fair assessment on his play. He seems to be the type of defensemen that the team has been needing with Rory Fitzpatrick still out of the lineup.
(Rochester, NY)… Rochester Americans Vice President of Hockey Operations Ted Nolan announced today that defenseman John de Gray has been loaned to the Amerks by the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. In a related move, Rochester released David Schulz from his PTO.
The 6-4, 209-pound de Gray comes to Rochester from the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL. The second-year pro has five goals, six assists and 28 penalty minutes in 29 games this season with the Condors. The 21-year-old defenseman was a third-round selection (83rd overall) of Anaheim in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
The Markham, Ontario, native has played in 97 career professional games, 68 of those in the American Hockey League with teams in Portland and Iowa. The blueliner has registered seven goals, 11 assists and 95 penalty minutes. In 2008-09, de Gray spent his entire rookie season with the Iowa Chops (AHL). He spent all four junior seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Brampton Battalion.
He will join Rochester tonight, as the North Division leading Amerks (22-10-2-0, 46 points) kick off their week on the road against the second-place Hamilton Bulldogs (20-8-2-3, 45 points). The 7:30 p.m. contest at Copps Coliseum will be carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester’s Sports Talk.
Schulz, 23, leaves the Amerks after recording one assist in four games. The defenseman returns to the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL, where he notched three points (1+2) in 26 games before he signed with Rochester. In his third of pro hockey, the Winkler, Manitoba, native made his American Hockey League debut in 2007-08 with the Manitoba Moose and has since skated in 13 total AHL games, including eight with the Lake Erie Monsters last season. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound blueliner was the Vancouver Canucks’ eight-round selection (254th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
